--- title: "Disney Builds Horrifying Skinless Robot With Terrifyingly Human Eyes" description: "A team of Disney researchers have built a terrifying animatronic robot bust to literally replicate the \"gaze\" of a human in order to appear more lifelike." date: "2020-10-30" modified: "2020-10-30" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/disney-skinless-robot-gaze-eyes" categories: - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "animatronic head" - "disney" - "disney robot" - "the digest" --- # Disney Builds Horrifying Skinless Robot With Terrifyingly Human Eyes ![A team of Disney researchers have built a terrifying animatronic robot bust to literally replicate the "gaze" of a human in order to appear more lifelike.]() *\Image: Disney Research\* ## Eye Hate It Happy Halloween, everyone. A team of researchers at Disney have [built a terrifying animatronic robot]() — an experiment in replicating the "gaze" of a human in order to appear more lifelike. And as evidenced in a video, fleshless visage of the robotic monstrosity is terrifying, with realistic eyes — fleshy exposed eyelids and all — staring right into your soul. And let's not even get started on its messed up looking teeth. https://youtu.be/D8_VmWWRJgE ## Look Behind You "We present a general architecture that seeks not only to create gaze interactions from a technological standpoint, but also through the lens of character animation where the fidelity and believability of motion is paramount," reads the abstract of a paper about the robot titled "[Realistic and Interactive Robot Gaze]()." "That is, we seek to create an interaction which demonstrates the illusion of life." And arguably the scary-looking robot is capable of doing just that. Its movements are swift and fluid, as if haunted by the soul of a living being. ## Don't Blink To bring their Frankenstein illusion to life, the team layered subtle motor movements for breathing, blinking, and "saccades," which are rapid movements of both eyes, on top of each other. The robot can even react to external stimuli, like keeping eye contact with a moving subject — in this case, waving and head-bobbing Disney researchers, who seem to have fallen under its necromantic spell. **READ MORE:** [Disney Made a Skinless Robot That Can Realistically Stare Directly Into Your Soul]() \[*Gizmodo*\] **More on animatronics:** *[Ultra-Realistic Remote Controlled Dolphin Looks Like the Real Thing]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()